۫ ּ ִ ۫ ˑ ֗ 𓏲˖ 𑁍 ࣪ ִ ۫ ּ ִ ۫ ˑ ֗
࣪𓏲ּ ֶָ  ✩◿𝓘𝓓𝓐◸ 🂱 ࣪𓏲ּ ֶָ
CHAPTER SIXTY SEVEN—
the pain in the beauty.

Cyndie and Austin looked up at The Sanctuary together.

"You're asking for a death wish." she spoke, glancing over as him slightly. The night sky concealed them enough, but Archie had parked the carriage off to the side enough to hide them from any possible sightings. Unlike Cyndie, Archie absolutely refused to go with Austin. He was his ride here and home, that was all. He did, in fact, let him wear his gear.

"Maybe." he exhaled, partly trying to brace himself for what he was about to do. He was risking his life for a child he saw himself in. A child he loved, despite her not being his own, despite her cominh from the person Austin seemed to hate the most. Negan made it clear what Austin's outcome would be...it was just a matter of time until he killed him. Austin was smart enough to know that. "I'll die anyways."

"Hey." Cyndie snapped at him, grabbing his arm before he could walk away so his gaze looked back at her. "Shut it. You say stuff like that and you've made yourself dead already."

For some reason, that snapped something inside of him.

Cyndie let his arm go, making Austin pull their eye contact away as he adjusted the gear Archie gave him. "Do I look like a knight?"

"You look like you're fighting dragons." she remarked back, the right side of her mouth curving up in just the slightest.

Austin shrugged. "I'll be sure to chop its head off and let you keep it as a token."

"I'll hold you to it." Cyndie gave him one single nod, the pair sharing a little grin before looking back up to the reality that awaited them. "You sure this is worth it?"

"It's worth it." Austin confirmed for her, exhaling as he stared. "Can't leave her there."

"Okay, so let's go over the plan one more time." Cyndie nodded as Austin faced her again. "You hope the fence and blend in with walkers. You go through the vent to get Natalie, send her down to me, look for yours friends, then make Archie take us home."

Austin was quiet as he exhaled through his nose. "I have a feeling it's not gonna go over that smoothly."

"Never does." she had to agree, but that was enough for them to start their journey toward the hell that awaited them. The moans and screeches from the walkers got louder as they neared, echoing in the night as well as their ears. Cyndie helped Austin lure one toward the end of the fence where she stabbed it in the head for him, killing it so he didn't have to.

The pair didn't speak as he tossed his knife and gun over, hoisting himself up onto the fence before jumping over and kneeling on the side. Cyndie kneeled with him, the pair keeping close to the ground as Austin held his breath while cutting into the walkers. Cyndie had never seen it done before, wondering if Austin had been the one to realize they didn't mess with you if you smelt like them, or if someone else had. It was strange to watch Austin coat himself in the walker blood, it looked as if he belonged in it more then without.

Cyndie also had no idea that walker blood was practically a second skin to him after killing them became his coping mechanism.

She tapped the fence when it seemed like he was about to head off, getting his attention. She flashed him a peace sign, then only her index finger, then a thumbs up. He wasn't sure if it means something, like she'd been trying to talk to him through sign language, but he did it back before starting to slowly walk toward the opening he'd manage to get into. He kept it quiet, his eyes casted down as his shoulders bumped walkers along the way. It felt as if it took him days to get to the end of the fence, though it was actually only four minutes and fifteen seconds.

Cyndie had counted.

He carefully opened the gate and slipped to the other side, looking back. It was very dark that night, no stars lighting up the forest enough. Austin could make out Cyndie from the distance, but his eye sight was never the best. He rose his hand, not a wave, but a simple hand up. He saw her do the same, the exact same way. A goodbye without the entirely indication that it was a goodbye.

Austin crept toward the side of the sanctuary he knew the kids room had been, checking his surroundings before latching on to the pipe that lead toward the air vent unit. It took him a bit longer to get up there, the act of getting yourself up without having handles to grab onto a lot harder than he originally anticipated. The air vent unit was already slightly coming off, Austin panted as he used one hand to grab it. When he did the movement, it caused him to slip down the pole slightly.

It hurt his hands, but he'd been lucky enough to stop himself before plummeting multiple feet downwards. In the process of saving himself, the opening of the vent fell to the ground and clanged loudly. Austin cringed and held his breath, staring down as he waited for someone to creep over at the sound. The walkers turned and were growing at the gates, the ones who had heard him first. Austin was never thankful for walkers until now, because the clanging could have easily been one of them against the gate.

He put his weight in his legs wrapped around the pole, pulling his middle half through the small unit. The tiny space reminded him of when him, Daryl, and Beth hid in the trunk of the car when the walkers tried to get them in the pouring rain. Not long before she'd been taken and murdered soon after. Austin cocked his head to the side to shake the memory, army crawling through the tiny space as the metal burnt the outsides of his arms.

Austin hoped he timed it right, counting his crawls the same way he would his steps. When he reached the number he suspected, he pressed his ear to the floor of the unit and knocked. The echoing confirmed he'd been in an empty hallway, not an enclosed room. A cocky smirk spread across his lips, grabbing the square and removing it, confirming his ability to know where he'd been based off the sound of a small knock.

Austin pushed forward to get his legs out, holding onto the sides tightly so the sound of his feet hitting harshly to the ground wouldn't echo. The soles of his shoes touched first, completely silent as he dropped the remaining of the way and landed softly, kneeling down to make sure he didn't loose his balance. He stayed still a moment, making sure he wasn't about to hear the faint echo of shoes running after him.

His eyes shifted toward the door, walking over quietly as he kept his breathing to a minimum. His hands fumbled with the journal in his pocket, scribbling on it quickly before leaning over to slide it under the door. Natalie saw it as she looked up from the book in her lap, staring in minor fear. She slowly rose to walk over, grasping it within her hand and flipping it over to read what it had been.

nat, it's austin. open the door as quietly as you can.

Natalie hurried to shove the paper into her pocket as she unlocked the door and started to pull it open slowly, slow enough to keep it from screeching too loudly. She wasn't sure where Negan had been, meaning the smallest noise from her room could have easily sent him coming her way. A sad smile went across her face when she finally had the door open enough to see Austin, practically jumping into his arms as he held her as safely as he could.

He'd been just as relived to see her safe and unharmed. Austin had the worst fear that he'd find her and she'd be hurt, or worse. His hand rubbed the back of her bright red hair before pulling back. "You okay?"

"You shouldn't be here." she whispered with fear in her eyes.

Austin had to smile at her with a single head shake. "No solider left behind."

Natalie smiled as she nodded her head. "Yeah, i'm okay."

"Okay, listen closely." Austin lead her toward the part of the ceiling he jumped through. "You get up there and climb toward the end. You're gonna get right on an opening, you gotta get down on the drain pipe. I know it sounds scary but it's not too bad, you just gotta hang on tight. From there, I left a walker for you to cover yourself in. It's really gross but it's just for a couple minutes. You'll see a girl, a pretty girl with curly hair, waiting on the other side for you. Trust her."

"Why aren't you coming?" Natalie looked at him with complete concern.

"I gotta go to Daryl and Eugene before I meet you guys back over there." he nodded his head.

"Austin, Daryl escaped right before you came." Natalie's words made his heart drop. "He isn't here anymore."

The Grimes boy exhaled as he nodded his head. "One down, one to go then."

Natalie gave him a sad smile, wishing more than anything that he'd just come along with them. He hoisted her up as she grabbed the ceiling, pulling herself through. She looked down at him again. "How long will you be?"

"I'm not sure. No more than-" but, he was cut off. He was cut off by not being able to physically speak anymore due to the crack in his jaw when a baseball bat collided right under his chin. The wire cutting him along with it as he stumbled to the side, practically falling over before as arms wrapped around him tightly and pulled him up in a headlock. Natalie screamed his name in panic.

"Now what do we have here?" Negan smiled as he looked down to Austin, who was fighting consciousness in his hold as well as how hard the hit had been. "You really think I wouldn't know when the pretty boy entered my territory?"

Austin barley waved to Natalie in order to signal her to go before the world fell black.

•

kylie speaks

y'all, i can't apologize
enough for how i left
y'all hanging for so long.
i had alottt going on and
tried to be active but it
just didn't work out the way
i wanted it to. i'm back now
though and i'm gonna deliver
to you guys as much as i can.
i hope you all still stay active
and know how sorry i am for
that